The Birthday Gift
by URNP
Summary: Emily must find her gift for Hotchner upon realizing she had misplaced it after arriving at his birthday party at the BAU headquarters. Will she be able to find it before the day ends? An one-shot.


**Author's Note: I'm so sorry if any of the characters are, well, out of characters. I haven't watched an episode of Criminal Minds in such a long time (several months to a year), so I have forgotten some of the characters' personalities, so bear with me when they do start acting not like themselves. Also, I was bored when I wrote this. Anyway, this is my first published story I'd posted in three years and the first fan fiction I'd updated in two. This is also the first time I made a fan fiction for the Criminal Minds archive.**

**Anyway, without further ado, I present you with this one shot.**

XXXX

Emily arrived in the main lobby of the BAU headquarters to see some of her fellow comrades wearing birthday hats as well as some of them holding gifts. A large banner that read, _**Happy birthday, Hotch**_, was hanging above them. She noticed a table covered with refreshments was beside them. Emily shifted her eyes from the table back toward the group of people.

She laughed when she saw that Morgan was having trouble removing the cone-shaped hat from his head. The ravenette went over to help. As she did, she noticed one particular person was missing from the scene; the birthday man himself. Emily wondered where he could be as Morgan playfully scolded her for laughing at him, then thanked her for helping him. She just smiled.

Emily decided she should retrieve her gift for Hotchner before seeking him out. She made her way toward the cubicles. When she arrived at her desk, she opened the top drawer, then reached inside to get her gift. To her surprise, she didn't feel it.

The ravenette checked the rest of her drawers. Again, she didn't feel or see her gift. Emily decided to search the top of, under, and around her desk. When she didn't find it, she moved to the cubicle across from hers. Just like before, she didn't find her gift for Hotch within the area of the cubicle.

_Where did it go?_ Emily thought, moving away from the unoccupied cubicle. She didn't know that someone was approaching until it was too late.

Emily turned, then accidentally bumped into Hotchner. Unbeknownst to her, he was holding a hot cup of coffee. The steaming liquid spilled onto him, staining the white shirt underneath his navy blue suit jacket. The dark-haired agent winced as the coffee seeped through his shirt and burnt his flesh. He tightened his grip on his now empty mug as Emily stared with widened eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you coming," she admitted as Hotchner began wiping his now stained shirt with his free hand.

She took a few steps closer before offering to help. Hotchner paused as the younger agent began wiping the stain on his shirt. Her effort, like his, was fruitless; the stain didn't come out nor did it lightened. With some bleach, however, the stain can be removed, which none of them had on their person.

"Prentiss, that's enough," Hotch said, after a moment had passed. "The stain is not coming out."

The ravenette woman immediately stopped wiping his shirt. She stood back up as her superior glared.

"Next time, watch where you are going," he said before walking right pass her.

Emily turned, then watched as Hotchner walked away. She didn't know someone had snuck up on her until she felt a warm hand rest on her shoulders. The touch startled her. She jumped before turning around. Standing in front of her was Garcia.

Garcia held a cake, which had been cut into; the missing slices were in her stomache and the stomaches of the other BAU members. She claimed she had baked it herself (she actually brought it from a store after her own cake exploded in her oven back home). The blonde had a big grin plastered on her face as she extended the half-eaten pastry toward her colleague.

"Good morning, Emily, do you want some of Hotch's birthday cake?" she offered. "I assure you it isn't as old and grumpy as him."

Emily shook her head. "No thanks. Have you seen my gift?"

Garcia's smile faded as her arms retracted. "For Hotch? No, I haven't," she replied.

Suddenly, a smirk appeared on her face. She moved a little closer to the ravenette, careful not to bump into her, unlike what had happened with Emily and Hotchner earlier.

"So, what did you get him?" the blonde asked before trying to nudge her friend on the shoulder with her own. When she realized she couldn't reach her without smashing the cake between them, she stopped. "A gaudy suit with an ugly tie to match? Well, in that case, it wouldn't be matching at all!"

A small smile formed on Emily's face. She was either beginning to blush or was going to laugh at Garcia's poor attempt at humor.

"No, I wouldn't get him that," she chuckled. "He would never parade around in such a hideous suit."

"Well, that's what I gave him," the blonde winked. "I told him if he doesn't wear that suit during any of the upcoming cases and send back pictures, then the BAU will have to find another hacker to help find and track the Unsubs."

"Good luck with that," Emily muttered as her smile faded.

Garcia's, however, remained. In fact, it widened in size. "Nah, I was kidding about that," she laughed. "But he still has to wear that suit. I didn't spend a good portion of my paycheck to buy him an outfit he will never wear, especially when that money could have been better spent elsewhere."

The ravenette didn't know why her friend would spend so much money on a suit, but decided not to ask. Instead, she shook her head at the thought of their superior wearing, as she had put it, "a hideous suit." The glasses-wearing BAU member's voice broke into her thoughts.

"I thought you were looking for your gift for Hotch?" she reminded her.

Emily blinked. "Y-yeah, I was." She turned to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want any - "

She was already half way across the room before Garcia could finish her sentence. She shrugged to herself before saying, "Oh, well, more for me."

XXXX

Emily had no clue where she'd placed Hotchner's gift. She was beginning to think if she had even brought it to the BAU headquarters. She searched nearly every office and cubicle. She searched all the restrooms. She even checked the parking lot, specifically her own vehicle, multiple times. In all of her searches, she came up empty-handed.

Where could it be? Maybe she did leave it back at her apartment. Thankfully, the BAU didn't seem to have any cases to do that day. Otherwise, she would have missed the briefing. Emily let out a _whoosh _of air as she entered a hallway where offices occupied each wall.

She was stumped. She had no idea where she could have taken that gift. Emily was beginning to contemplate on whether or not she should stop looking when she recognized a familiar face. Spencer was holding a book - an encyclopedia, maybe - as he walked, heading in a different direction from where she was standing.

"Reid!" the ravenette called, almost breathlessly.

Spencer stopped short, then turned to face her. He noticed she appeared exhausted; her hair and clothes appeared to have been dishelved, and sweat beaded her face and neck. Was she just being chased?

Spencer's sleep-deprived-looking face twisted into a confused expression just before the older agent beckoned him. He approached her. When he reached her, the brunet watched as she wiped perspiration off her brows.

"Hey, Emily, were you... running?" he asked.

Emily frowned. "Nevermind that. Have you seen a gift?"

Spencer blinked. "Whose it for?"

"For Hotch," the ravenette answered. "Weren't you here before I'd arrived?"

"Well, it depends on what you mean by that," her co-worker began. "If you are referring to the time before you joined the BAU, then yes, I was here before you. But if you are referring to this morning - "

"I'll hear the rest later," Emily called as she hurried away.

She didn't want to hear him babble. Once the young man started, he would keep going, non-stop, unless he was interrupted. Emily only had gotten a few offices away from Spencer before stopping short. What stood a few feet from her was the office of Aaron Hotchner.

Hotchner's office? How did she forget to check there? _Well, if his gift isn't in there, then it's either back at home or I'd completely lost it, _the woman thought.

She took a few steps forward, raised her hand to knock, but then hesitated. What would she tell him? That she had a gift for him but misplaced it? Well, Emily had to know if the present was in his office or not. She inhaled deeply, bracing herself of what may come, before knocking on the door.

"Come in," she heard Hotchner say from the other side of the door.

Emily opened the door, then entered the room. Inside his office, the older agent was sitting behind his desk, writing on a piece of paper. He had removed his suit jacket, which hung from the back of his chair. The coffee stain appeared more apparent since it was no longer hidden by the suit jacket. The stain was a reminder of what had taken place earlier that day.

Emily pushed her thoughts aside before approaching the desk. Resting in front of Hotchner's desk was another chair. She stood behind it as she watched the older man write on his lone sheet of paper. He suddenly stopped writing.

Hotch placed his pen beside the paper before looking up. His facial features were hardened as ever as he looked at the other agent.

"Prentiss, why are you here?" he asked, leaning forward, then crossing his arms on the desk.

Emily placed both hands on the chair in front of her.

"Hotch, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but..." she trailed off.

Hotchner didn't say anything as he raised a hand, then motioned for her to sit down. Which she did. The ravenette brushed aside a loose strand of hair which had fallen in front of her eye.

"I'd misplaced your birthday gift," she told him.

The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow at her response.

"You lost my birthday gift?" he asked.

Emily nodded. Hotchner stared at her for a moment, as if he didn't quite understand her. Suddenly, he removed an arm from the top of the desk, then proceeded to opening one of its drawers. He reached inside, then pulled out a small box, which was topped by a red bow.

"You mean this?" he shook the box as he held it out for her to see.

The contents of the box rattled about as Hotchner shook it. Emily's eyes widened as a smile formed on her face. He found her missing gift! She was relieved to have finally found it.

"Yeah, that's it," she said, blinking. "Where did you find it?"

"It was resting in an empty chair," the older agent replied. "A custodian would have probably thrown it out if I didn't get there and retrieved it in time."

He was about to put the gift back into the opened drawer, when Emily insisted that he should open it. Hotchner was about to tell her, "Maybe some other time," when he remembered the BAU hadn't been assigned to any cases that day. Besides, he'd already opened his gifts from the other BAU members; why not hers, as well?

Hotchner lowered the gift onto his desk before untying the red bow. When the ribbon was removed, he opened the box. Emily watched as he reached in and pulled out a silver watch. Hotch briefly examined the bands of the watch, before turning it around so he could see the back.

Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary; it looked like a normal watch. He turned the watch back over to the front. When his eyes shifted onto the face of the watch, he saw something he wasn't expecting. Behind the little hour and minute hands was a cut-out photo of Emily and him.

The dark-haired man made a soft sound, which sounded almost like a chuckle as a tiny smile crept onto his face. He didn't realize the other agent was now standing beside him until she spoke.

"Isn't that a nice watch?" She moved a little closer to get a better view. "I'd placed that photo behind the face. I had to figure out where I would cut the photo and how to place the cut-out piece precisely. Trust me, it wasn't easy."

Hotchner stood, still holding the watch, as the smile faded from his face. He rolled up his sleeve, then placed the watch on his wrist. Before he could say anything, Emily reached over, then helped him fastened it. He raised his arm to get a better view of the watch.

"Well," the younger agent began as she watched him lowered his arm. "What do you think of it?"

"I think it is very nice," he told her while adjusting the watch.

Silence fell over the office as Hotchner turned his gaze back onto her. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into an embrace, which startled him a bit. The older agent didn't bother to pull away.

"Happy birthday, Hotch," Emily said before pecking him on the cheek.

Hotch didn't reply as she pulled away. He just stared at her with his brown eyes. Her cheeks had turned a little pink from embarrassment as Emily exhaled.

"Well... I should be going." She spun around, then began to leave.

"Prentiss," Hotchner called suddenly.

The ravenette paused, then slowly turned back around. The older agent had a hand on his hip as he stared back at her. Emily brushed a loose strand of hair from the front of her eye as she met his gaze.

"Thank you," Hotchner said finally.

Emily just smiled in response. She turned, then left his office. After the door closed shut, Hotchner reached a hand and touched the cheek where the younger agent had kissed. A smile crossed his lips as he thought about the kiss he'd received from her.


End file.
